Love Burns Bright - MarcoAce Week
by Fushicho92
Summary: Love is strong and can make you do things that you normally wouldn't. Especially when your love runs deeper than anything else, when it becomes the entire reason for you to smile and feel happiness, when it becomes the source which gives your life color. Something you can't live without. Might change the rating at a later date. When I finally write for all the days.
1. Chapter 1

The cold icy wind blew lightly around them, making a howling noise get caught in their ears as they kept on moving over the snowy ice covered ground. Each step made a crushing sound appear as their shoes left footprints behind them from the weight of their bodies as their more than normal clothed legs carried them along. On top of warmer pants both Ace and Marco wore a long winter jacket just to be safe since the temperatures were far below zero here.

As far as the eye could see there was nothing but white due to the wind that made the snow dance in it as it continued to roar lightly around them, making it slightly hard to see what was in the distant, but Marco's keen eyes had no problem making out shapes as they went on. Had it been anyone else than the two fire-users then the cold would have made their cheeks turn red by now, but since they didn't get affected as strongly as normal people, their skin only flustered a light pinkish color.

After a few minutes of nothing but the sounds of nature, Ace suddenly decided to break the peaceful atmosphere while tugging at Marco's hand as he stumbled bit in his attempt to slow them down.

"Marco~! How much longer do we need to walk?" Ace pulled out his lover's name in a child-like manner before starting to walk properly again while gazing at Marco with a questioning glint in his dark orbs.

"A good while yet, yoi. Just enjoy your surroundings. After all, it isn't everyday that we get to do this, so bear with it. I promise that you're going to like it," Marco answered, as he craned his neck to direct a small smile at Ace before looking back at the path he had chosen in front of them - if you could call it a path, it was more like just a direction they were walking, which they had done for an hour plus now, no one really kept track of time. The only thing that indicated anything was the sky which grew darker as they went on.

"Look at what? There is nothing but snow and uneven ice forms.." Ace half-whined, yet kept on following his lover, tightening his grip on the gloved hand slightly which was covered in a thick woolen glove just like Ace's own. He had complained before they had left the Moby Dick, claiming that he didn't need it, but Marco had had none of it, saying that they wouldn't go before he did, and of course then Ace had complied as he really wanted to see where his lover was going to take him.

"You're not paying enough attention if that is all you have been seeing, yoi." The statement made Ace release a huff as a pout made its way onto his lips before he pushed the words aside to instead focus on something else.

"Why don't we just fly there?" As a reply Ace heard Marco chuckle softly which made him furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Right before he could ask what was so funny, his lover answered.

"Because we need the dark for where we're heading. If we flew there then we would have to wait for a good thirty minutes before I could show you what I want to show you." Marco said it in a matter of fact tone, but still had a smile gracing his lips so Ace didn't try to question him any further.

After they had walked for a while, Ace suddenly came to a halt as something caught his eye. Marco, who didn't catch on, nearly fell backwards at the unmoving weight on his arm due to their hands still being linked. Marco's thin eyebrows rose as stoic features turned slightly baffled as Ace didn't voice why he felt the need to stop.

After a few seconds of silence, Marco understood that he wasn't going to get an answer and instead turned to look at his lover. Upon seeing the awestruck expression, his half-lidded gaze followed in the beautiful dark orbs direction, landing on something that made him smile tenderly - especially combined with Ace's expression which flashed in his mind – a baby seal. It was clear that the arctic animal was pretty young as it still had some of its fluffy fur covering random parts of its body, making it look even cuter than it already did with its big round black liquidy eyes staring back at them with curiosity dancing in them while it tilted its head slightly to the side. Marco could figuratively make out the little baby's thoughts at the way it seemingly tried to figure out what they were.

"I told you, yoi.." Marco voiced softly, while delivering a light squeeze to Ace's hand as the raven kept on looking at the seal with wonder. Feeling a tug, sky blue orbs turned to look at the freckled features. Marco wasn't surprised upon seeing the pleading look in the captivating night-like orbs, already knowing that Ace was silently asking if they could go closer to the little seal. A quick glance towards the skies was all Marco needed before he directed a smile at his lover, telling Ace that they could. It was becoming dark, but he couldn't say no when Ace smiled from ear to ear as they slowly moved towards the fluffy pup. The seal peaked at them with its big eyes that made it look like a curious puppy, showing no sign of fear.

Once they were a few feet away, the pup suddenly let out a noise. Marco would never forget how Ace's expression changed as long as he lived.

A huffed laugh escaped Marco's mouth before he silenced it with his slender hand as he bent slightly forward, body shaking from the now muffled sound, and in the meanwhile a blush spread over Ace's freckled cheeks; both from embarrassment and because Marco looked so extremely cute with the way he tried to stop the wonderful sound from escaping. Ace didn't even care that his lover was most likely laughing at him in that moment. However, as soon as the sky blue orbs focused back on him, a pout appeared.

"Not funny." At this, Marco smiled tenderly as they both once again turned to gaze at the pup which had moved closer, now standing a mere arm's length away which made Ace's eyes widen before a grin spread over his face as he started to speak in a soft tone.

"Hey there little guy.." Marco made a silent gesture for Ace sit down on his knees. Ace immediately understood and did as he was told. Soon the fluffy pup started to wobble over towards them. Marco took a step back, letting his lover have this moment.

A smile broke out onto Marco's lips when the seal crawled all the way over to Ace before reaching up; like it was asking for a kiss. If he hadn't been as stoic as he was, then he would have melted at the sight of Ace being utterly clueless as of what to do at the sudden closeness.

"Don't touch him, yoi. Just let him make the move, if you do it can cause problems with the mom."

Hearing this, Ace leaned back in an attempt to get some room between them, however, the grin surfaced once again when the seal flopped down with half of its body in Ace's lap which made Ace turn to gaze at Marco who smiled back.

"Why is it so friendly? Shouldn't it be seeing us as some threat?" Marco shook his head lightly at this as he moved his gaze to the - what looked like now – sleeping baby seal on Ace.

"They're called the dogs of the ocean, yoi. Many of them behave like dogs and are very friendly. They don't see us as a threat because they don't know any better, yoi," Marco replied, before looking up at the darkening sky. Ace followed his gaze before moving his dark orbs down to focus on the pup which peeked up at him and once again reached up, but his time the seal successfully delivered a wet kiss to the freckled features which made Ace fall backwards in his surprise, resulting in him landing on the snow covered icy ground with a huff leaving his rosy lips. However, laughter soon filled the air as the seal laid unmoving on Ace's body, seemingly deciding that it had no reason to get off and that the body beneath it was a perfect bed.

Marco's features turned tender at the adorable display, but that soon changed as he remembered what he was about to say before the pup so cutely decided that his lover needed a kiss - or what could be taken as a kiss, at least in his eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt your private moment, but we need to get moving, yoi." A teasing smile could be seen tugging at the corner of Marco's lips at the statement. In response Ace blew his cheeks up before he directed a smile at the seal as he sat up and then proceeded to lift the baby off of him. "Now you should go find your mommy." Dark orbs turned to look at his lover with a slightly questioning expression.

"His breathing hole is right over there. So you can help him, yoi," Marco stated as he pointed over towards a pile of what looked like snow covered rocks which formed a half circle around a hole in the ice.

Ace smiled as he took a secure hold of the pup before getting up to proceed over to the breathing hole as Marco had so intelligently called it. He wasn't an animal expect, but he knew that his lover read a lot of books so it wouldn't come as a surprise for Ace if Marco had read about seals before.

Reaching the opening, Ace craned his neck to glance one last time at his lover which made Marco nod with a soft smile. Understanding the gesture, Ace lowered the pup before letting it slowly glide into the water. A smile appeared on the rosy lips as dark orbs saw the little flipper flap from side to side before disappearing into the pitch black depths.

Ace extended his arms above his head as he stretched before turning to Marco, directing a beaming smile at him, showing his obvious happiness. He then walked over, wasting no time taking a hold of one of his lover's hands as an indication that he was ready to leave.

xxx

After a good fifteen minutes they arrived at their destination: a cave.

The entrance to the cave was pretty narrow, there was just enough room for one or two people which made him question how Marco had found this in the first place.

Looking over at Marco, Ace was met with half-lidded sky blue orbs and pair of slightly smiling lips.

"Now, yoi.. it's going to be very dark when we go in there, but I will ask you to not use your fire before I say so." With that, Marco guided them towards the narrow entrance with soft features.

Ace didn't say anything as they walked in. He was feeling a sudden rush of excitement. He just couldn't wait to see what exactly Marco wanted to show him that was worth traveling all this way for.

Marco had been right, Ace could barely see an arm's length in front of him. It was rather uncomfortable if it weren't for the hand that held his which gave a light squeeze every now and then as they went along the narrow path.

Suddenly the slightly ice covered rocky wall expanded in what Ace would describe as an open space. Well, he could see the middle at least as a small beam of moonlight shone in from a hole in the cave's roof and he had to say that it was really beautiful, but not something out of the ordinary.

Dark orbs focused on Marco as they stopped in the middle with a curious glint in them, however, Ace didn't get time to voice his curiosity before Marco spoke up while letting blue flames come to life on one of his hands that he held up to Ace.

"Now, yoi." Understanding what his lover meant, Ace lifted one of his own hands, intertwining their fingers before allowing his red flames to join the blue ones. The sudden change of scenery made a gasp escape his now parted lips as his jaw went slack at the sight.

Around them were thousands of crystals which lit the cave up in a rainbow of bright colors from their mixed flames. It was something truly breathtaking and all Ace could do was stare with a surprised and taken away expression until Marco spoke up, making him turn to focus on him. Each word slowly morphed his features.

"I wanted you to see this, Ace.. because I wanted you to see exactly how beautiful you are in my eyes, yoi. Even though, I didn't take you here to compare you to this sight, I took you here because you're more beautiful than anything else that I have ever seen. None of this.." Sky blue orbs met black with a loving and tender glint in them as Marco continued after a short break in his heart filled speech, "is as beautiful as you, Ace.. I wouldn't care if I could stare at this all day, not when I got something that makes me happy, makes me smile and makes me fall in love each and every day, yoi. For you, Ace, you were the one who made me understand what true freedom really was. You, who made me understand that I was missing a piece of my heart, and that piece was you, Ace."

Without a warning Ace threw himself at Marco with a huge smile that threatened to split his face in two.

"Thank you so much, Marco! It's so beautiful, I-I don't know what to say, I just love you so, so much. You were the one who lit up my life and my life would be nothing without you. So please, never ever leave me." Ace tightened his hold on his lover as he buried his nose in the crook of Marco's neck.

Toned arms soon embraced Ace's form as Marco dipped his nose into the raven locks.

"I love you too, Ace, with all my heart, yoi. And I promise to never leave you, as long as I live."


	2. Day 6 - Misery

So this is actually two days in one~! the lyrics day and the misery day. Though, I have decided that I will write another lyrics one later one.  
And I just wanted to say; thank you so much for the lovely reviews on the fire day~! They really made me happy :} *hugs you all*

Songs used: The Second You Sleep by Saybia and How Do I Live by LeAnn Rimes. I listened to the male version as I wanted to picture Marco singing it, and it's so beautiful~! If you haven't heard it yet then you should go and take a look on youtube. It's sung by Nicholas Riedy. :D

This was beta'ed by wonderful Flower (shockandlock) Thank you so much, sweetheart~!

* * *

 **E** verything froze around him, sound, people, as his world slowly narrowed while losing its color.

Pain shot through his chest like someone had just ripped out his heart. The feeling made him gasp as he fell to his knees. His phoenix cried wildly in the back of his mind, voicing its obvious pain, just like Marco did as he screamed his lover's name upon seeing the magma fist go through Ace's chest and out his tattooed back.

It felt like the air itself was choking him, denying him what he needed to stay alive. Even then, he didn't falter as he made his pain known by continuing to yell the name of the one who held his heart, the one which meant everything to him, the one who gave his world color: his sun, his warmth.

Tears soon rolled down his cheek like someone had allowed the flow of time to start again. Marco wanted to wake up from this nightmare- because this was just a nightmare, right? It couldn't be real. It was too painful to be real. No one should be allowed to experience this kind of pain.

 _I stay to watch you fade away…_

 _I dream of you tonight…_

 _Tomorrow you will be gone…_  
 _It gives me time to stay…_

His nails dug into his chest at the pain that throbbed inside, like thousands of knives were stabbing his heart over and over.

"Don't… No… Please stop…"

Watching the bloodied rosy lips move was something that made Marco's body tremble as he got up on shaky legs, ignoring the shouts behind him as he stumbled towards his lover's fading form.

Seeing Ace's body suddenly hit the ground with a thud made the chains that kept him together snap, and everything became a blur around him.

Everything had calmed after the marines had agreed to let them take Ace's and Pops' bodies. After their father was transported onto Moby Dick, Marco went back to get his lover.

Now standing in front of the snuffed out flame, Marco's knees hit the ground hard enough to bruise, but no recognition made itself present on the emotionless face as hollow eyes stared down at the still smiling freckled features.

No emotion could be felt as toned arms lifted the lifeless, cold body up, uncaring about the blood that now soaked his shirt.

 **….**

Marco had no idea how he made it back to the ship. Still in denial, he walked into the sickbay looking for his lover. Ace would be there, right? Everything was going to be okay, he kept on repeating, pushing down his phoenix which cried loudly, crying for its mate to come back to it.

After searching everywhere while ignoring the concerned looks from his siblings, Marco ended up in front of the room where Ace's body was being kept.

His hand shook as he reached out towards the handle. Deep inside he knew his lover was there. Marco knew that if he went in, he couldn't ignore the fact that Ace wasn't coming back, but he couldn't take the way his phoenix cried any longer. With one forceful pull Marco opened the door before stepping in and closing it behind him.

Reaching the bed, his entire body started to tremble uncontrollably as the pain once again surfaced, unwanted images flashed as tears soon fell from his bloodshot eyes.

"A-Ace... Please wake up, yoi. Please." Marco wasn't stupid, he knew that Ace wasn't going to wake up, but a part of him still believed this was all but a dream.

A thud could be heard as his legs gave away under him, making his knees hit the wooden floor as sobs wrecked through his body. Marco had no idea how long he cried before sleep claimed him, making him drift into a dream, a fond memory that made a smile appear on his tired, sleeping face.

 _Away into the night escaping through a dream..._

" _Hey, Marco.."_

" _Hmm, what is it, yoi?" Marco looked down at Ace's thoughtful face with a small smile as his lover laid in his lap, however, not for long as Ace suddenly sat up before crawling over so he was straddling Marco._

"Could you sing for me?"

 _Releasing a chuckle toned arms reached around Ace's form, pulling him close while bathing in the warmth that seeped into his bones at the touch. His phoenix cooed upon feeling his lover rest his head on his shoulder with a content sigh._

 _Marco's voice was soft as he poured his heart into the song with the help of his phoenix, which made him able to sing the words effortlessly, making them dance in the quiet room._

" _How do I get through one night without you? If I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be? Oh now I need you in my arms, need you to hold. You're my world, my heart, my soul. If you ever leave, baby, you would take away everything good in my life._ _Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky, there would be no love in my life, there'd be no world left for me. And I, baby, I don't know what I would do, I'd be lost, if I lost you…_ _"_

 _Suddenly, he was silenced as his lover claimed his lips in a passionate kiss that made Marco fall back onto the bed with a smile. He kissed back Ace with just as much passion before hearing the words that made him feel like the happiest person alive, that made his heart soar like he was flying through the sky:_

" _I love you, Marco, so, so very much."_

 _I dream of you tonight…  
Tomorrow you'll be gone..._

"I love you too, Ace… with… all my heart, yoi," Marco mumbled as he woke up with a soft smile gracing his still very tired looking features. However, it didn't stay for long as reality hit him like a brick to the face when he saw his lover's lifeless body under his folded arms.

 **…..**

Everyone on board the Moby Dick cried as a heart breaking scream traveled through their home.

No one spoke. No one attempted to comfort the source of the scream, knowing that it would be no use.

Later that day they all shared the same thought: it wasn't two people who died at the war, but three. The third was just left to sail the sea with a broken heart and a hollow body.

 _Stay awake, stay, stay…_

 _I wish by God you'd stay..._


End file.
